Help Placencia Protect the Beach We All Love

Placencia has always had a special relationship with the sea. Our beaches and surrounding waters are part of what makes this village home—and why so many people from around the world return year after year.

Today, that coastline needs our help.

Placencia has been hit hard by severe shoreline erosion and increasingly heavy sargassum. The village remains beautiful, welcoming and open for visitors, but these challenges are putting growing pressure on our beaches, our community and the families and small businesses that depend upon them.

We have a plan, and we are already working to fund it.

Scientific work led by Dr. Ping Wang of the University of South Florida has provided an action plan for addressing erosion and beach restoration. For sargassum, the goal is to intercept it offshore with booms and collect it at sea before it reaches and accumulates on our beaches.

Placencia BTIA has applied for approximately $500,000 through the Belize Fund for erosion and $600,000 through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for sargassum management.

Even if successful, these efforts will not cover the full cost. A comprehensive sargassum boom system from the airstrip area to Placencia Caye alone is estimated at $750,000 to $1.4 million, before the vessel and collection equipment required to keep those booms functioning.

That is where this GoFundMe can make a difference.

The scale of what we can accomplish will depend upon the resources available. Donations will help bridge gaps in institutional funding and allow us to move forward with erosion mitigation, sargassum interception and sea-based collection as funding permits.

This joint community effort is being represented by Brice Dial on behalf of the Placencia Village Council (PVC) and Christopher Rothing on behalf of the Placencia BTIA. Because GoFundMe is not available in Belize, the campaign account is based in Texas, USA.

For those wishing to donate directly within Belize, contributions can be deposited at Atlantic Bank to:

Placencia Tourism Center — Account #100091222

Placencia Village Council — Account #100091305

Please label deposits to either account “Go Fund Me.”

We are pursuing grants, partnerships and technical support. Our community is doing its part. Now we are asking everyone who knows and loves Placencia to help us do more.

Come visit Placencia. Support our businesses. Enjoy the village we love. And, if you can, help us protect it for generations to come.